(no subject)
I successfully pulled off another secret agent mission game for niece! She found the first part in a letter outside her door this morning asking for help with a stolen painting. The thief (Carmen Sandiego, naturally) was so skilled that authorities weren't even sure which painting was missing.
Her first task was a written test of Harry Potter trivia questions, followed by a simple cryptogram that when solved told her that the first letter of each trivia answer would spell out the picture's name (The Swan Princess). Finally, a riddle directed her to enter the smallest room in the house, turn around and face the door. She found the picture duct-taped to the upper inside of the hall closet door. It's a print I've had for many years of a woman with a swan reflection (alas, I can't remember the artist's name and there's no hope of finding it with an image search). She's going to hang it in her room.
I'm going to have to figure out a way to end missions that doesn't involve a present but is still satisfying; it's not fair to her younger sib and would probably not be parent-approved. Hmm.
In less good news, @space-parasite's beloved Chantilly cat is ailing and has lost a great deal of weight. We've been giving him subcutaneous fluids every night for a couple weeks now and he seems to have more energy and be drinking more, but he still turns up his nose at both the thyroid food and the new kidney kibble. Hopefully the vet will have some ideas next week and his numbers won't be as bad as I fear :/
@space-parasite bought a full-sized Instant Pot! Now the full range of possible culinary depredations expands before me!
Her first task was a written test of Harry Potter trivia questions, followed by a simple cryptogram that when solved told her that the first letter of each trivia answer would spell out the picture's name (The Swan Princess). Finally, a riddle directed her to enter the smallest room in the house, turn around and face the door. She found the picture duct-taped to the upper inside of the hall closet door. It's a print I've had for many years of a woman with a swan reflection (alas, I can't remember the artist's name and there's no hope of finding it with an image search). She's going to hang it in her room.
I'm going to have to figure out a way to end missions that doesn't involve a present but is still satisfying; it's not fair to her younger sib and would probably not be parent-approved. Hmm.
In less good news, @space-parasite's beloved Chantilly cat is ailing and has lost a great deal of weight. We've been giving him subcutaneous fluids every night for a couple weeks now and he seems to have more energy and be drinking more, but he still turns up his nose at both the thyroid food and the new kidney kibble. Hopefully the vet will have some ideas next week and his numbers won't be as bad as I fear :/
- Creamy sundried tomato chicken, redux: still full of win
- Roasted brown butter honey garlic carrots: win! finally, a use for those bags of "baby carrots" that I never manage to finish with salad!
- Tilapia with tomato basil topping: Okay but not great. The chopped tomato-basil topping was good in its own right but cold and didn't really integrate well with the fish.
- Stirfy: I have developed a method that takes two woks, one for the marinated chicken and onions and one for the vegetables and egg. The vegetable half gets soy sauced and then rice is mixed into each,and finally they're combined. Reliable and filling.
- Roasted butternut squash sauteed with onions and leftover chicken breast, served over stuffing: Much better than you'd expect, given that I only realized it was butternut and not spaghetti squash when it failed to mush into strands after baking.
@space-parasite bought a full-sized Instant Pot! Now the full range of possible culinary depredations expands before me!